(The above ad was recently seen in the train station in York, England.)

Books to Die For, edited by John Connelly and Declan Burke has been nominated for an Edgar Award in the Critical/Biographical category. I have an essay on Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement in Stone in this collection, which is full of fine articles on a variety of crime novels, some well known, others undeservedly neglected. Congratulations to the editors!

I have also just heard that Before the Poison has been nominated for a Dilys Award for best novel by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, USA. The votes have to be in by 4th February and the result will be out shortly thereafter.

I have a few events of interest coming up in the near future, starting with a music/ short story event with Martin Carthy called Crimes and Ballads at the York Literature Festival in association with the Black Swan Folk Club, in York, UK, on 19th March at 7.30pm. Hurry, it will sell out! Details here. You can see an excerpt from our previous collaboration at the Beverley Folk Festival last June.

From 2nd to 5th May, I will be International Guest of Honour at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD. This is a great honour indeed, and I’m really looking forward to it. Laura Lippman will be Toastmaster. Details at www.malicedomestic.org

I recently wrote a few words for UNCUT magazine in the UK on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon for the 40th year commemoration issue. Forty years! Can’t believe it. Should be out soon.

In the summer, I hope to be teaching a course in Crime Writing at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. This runs from 15th to 19th July. I’ve done it several times before, and we all usually enjoy ourselves. Perhaps we all learn something, too!

From 16th to 18th August, I’ll be at the St Hilda’s Crime Conference in Oxford, UK, where I’ll be delivering a paper on crime fiction today.

Shortly after that, on 17th or 18th September, I’ll be giving a paper at crime conference at the University of Leeds.

I’ll be doing something, I know not what, at the Richmond Books and Boots Festival, in Richmond, North Yorkshire between 20th and 22nd September. I might be interviewing a famous crime writer, leading a walk or simply reading and talking.

On 26th September, I am set to give a talk at the New York Public Libraries Convention in Niagara Falls, NY.

There are more events waiting to be finalised, and I’ll post more details as they become available.

Finally, while Watching the Dark has been racing up the UK paperback bestseller list, it has just been published in hardcover in the USA, where it briefly reached the New York Times extended list and has been garnering some terrific reviews, some of which you can check out at the following sites: the Wall Street Journal, the Richmond Times Dispatch, BookPage and the New York Post.